


Broken but Not Damaged

by immortalbanner



Series: Still Getting Better [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Depression, Fat Thor, Hurt/Comfort, Kinda?, Lots of it, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of Nightmares, Mentions of Panic Attacks, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, also no professor hulk, but oof this has heavy themes, just helping the other get through everything, mentions of insomnia, no fixing each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 21:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19028410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalbanner/pseuds/immortalbanner
Summary: Bruce hadn't seen Thor for six months after Thor killed Thanos. He goes to New Asgard to see him and after what he sees, he stays longer than he had planned to.





	Broken but Not Damaged

**Author's Note:**

> Bruce and Thor? Not seeing each other for five years? Bold of the Russo's to assume Thor and Bruce aren't in love!

They hadn’t seen each other for six months when Bruce arrived in New Asgard.

He wasn’t sure how Thor had gone about settling Asgard in Norway. They’d more or less integrated into the community, turning a part of a tiny fishing village into the new home for the Asgardians. Bruce had to guess the choice had to do with Norway’s history of worshiping Norse gods. He had to wonder if the Nordic countries either fought over who was able to have them or who had to take them. The United States were definitely not going to welcome them with open arms.

After a taxi ride to New Asgard, he found Brunnhilde quickly. She wasn’t dressed in the kind of clothes she wore on Sakaar, instead in jeans, a crewneck, and a leather jacket.

“Didn’t think I’d see you,” Brunnhilde noted as he stepped forward to her.

“I wanted to see Thor. I… I’ve missed him” ‘Miss him’ was putting it lightly. Thor had told him he needed space and Bruce let him have it. He had no idea if he’d missed him too but he knew Thor wouldn’t turn him away for showing up unannounced. They developed a weird amount of closeness after Sakaar. They hadn’t had much time together between reuniting in Wakanda and when he’d killed Thanos and he wanted to fix that.

He couldn’t handle going on with his life not knowing how Thor was doing. He’d barely made it through the six months.

Brunnhilde gave him a smile. “I think him seeing you will make him feel better. He hasn’t been doing… great.”

He nodded, because that wasn’t unexpected. He remembered a conversation they’d had right after the decimation. He saw the state Thor was in and the utter guilt he clearly felt. He knew Thor didn’t need to hear that he’d done his best or that they’d all failed, he needed comfort. He’d hugged him instead. They’d stayed in the same position for a while, simply holding each other. He’d done his best to comfort him, letting Thor cry into his neck.

Brunn showed him the ‘royal quarters’. A tiny house in the fishing village. He had to wonder how the even smaller population of Asgardians were handling the adjustment. He’d have to remember to ask Thor about it.

“Thor!” Brunn called when she opened the door, without so much as knocking. “Someone’s here to see you!”

He followed her into the dimly lit living room.

There were empty beer bottles on the coffee table. Too many. There was an assortment of what he assumed was mostly empty bags Norwegian junk food as well.

But that wasn’t what his main focus was.

Thor was sat on the couch with Korg and Miek. They were playing some video game, and from what he could tell, all of their focus was on it.

Thor’s hair was getting longer after his dreaded haircut. It looked almost long enough that maybe he could tangle his fingers into it. He’d gained some weight. Even from where he stood his abs had been replaced with a small beer belly. That was a pretty good indicator he’d been the one who’d been drinking most of the beers. He wasn’t even sure if rock-people or large insects did or could drink beer. But he didn’t want to think about Thor downing all that beer himself.

“Your Majesty!” Brunn tried again.

That got Thor’s attention. He looked up, opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when his eyes landed on Bruce. He stared at him for a few moments before standing up.

“Bruce?”

He smiled at him. “Do I have to bow to you now?”

That made him smile back at him. He stepped closer and wrapped him in a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”

He hugged him back, and decided to pretend he couldn’t smell beer on him. He did kind of like the feeling of Thor’s soft stomach pressing against him more than he probably should.

He ignored how it made him feel, that was far from the purpose of his trip.

When they pulled apart, Korg gave him a greeting too, only briefly looking away from the video game, while Miek gave a squeak of acknowledgment.

“What are you doing here?” Thor asked, still grinning at him.

“I wanted to see how you were doing. You still don’t have a phone so I figured this was the best option.”

“Well I’m glad you came.” He said it so warmly that he felt warmth pool in his stomach. “How long are you planning to stay?”

“I don’t know yet. I booked a motel in the next town over.”

“Nonsense! You can stay in New Asgard for as long as you like.”

“You sure?”

“Of course! I know for sure my people would be happy to have you.”

That made him smile. He knew the Asgardians didn’t fear the Hulk after he stopped a giant dog from attacking them. Even if the Hulk was still extremely dormant.

But even more so, his life had been so empty without the other Avengers. He’d missed Thor desperately and would accept as much time as possible to be with him.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Bruce took residence in a small cottage not far from Thor’s home. The village brought a certain sense of peace, a comfort that New York City didn’t and couldn’t bring.

He didn’t have much to do. He’d brought some books but he didn’t feel like reading when he knew Thor was less than five minutes away.

He spent most days going to visit Thor. What he’d noticed quickly was that Thor had become really closed off.

Whenever he visited him, he usually tried to get Thor out of his house. He usually gave up after an hour and curled himself up on the couch, taking a few beers for himself since he knew if he didn’t, Thor would drink all the bottles in front of him.

Even then, it was way too much. He wasn’t sure how to be there for him other than what he was already doing.

He knew it was PTSD and he’d seemed to cover it by ignoring his responsibilities. Aside from the drinking at least. He acted like the carefree happy Thor he was familiar with. That terrified Bruce because he knew that could only last for so long.

When he arrived at Thor’s for his usual visit, he realised the room was darker than usual. When he got to the living room, he realised that the curtains were drawn. Then his eyes landed on the couch and he realised Thor wasn’t there. Not even Korg or Miek.

What was there was empty beer bottles. He knew they were new because he cleaned up the bottles when he left after Thor went to bed.

He turned and started for Thor’s bedroom. “Thor!” he called, stopping outside the door. He knocked on the door. “Thor!”

There was still no response but he could hear him on the other side of the door. He opened the door to find something that made him sick in his stomach.

Thor was under his sheets and a cluster of beer bottles were on the floor. It was noon, so he had to wonder how long he’d been in bed.

He made his way over to his bed and knelt down to his level. He could hear him heaving, looking at him with bloodshot eyes.

They locked eyes for a few moments, and he watched as Thor took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“Thor?” he asked, putting a hand in his hair and gently stroking his head, an attempt to comfort him.

“Hi Bruce.” His speech was slurred. Bruce bit his lip, still running his fingers through his hair.

“You okay?” He clearly wasn’t but it was the best thing he could think to ask. None of his PhDs were in psychology so this wasn’t his best area. He was really just desperate for him to open up to him. He knew Thor wasn’t doing well, he just didn’t expect to see the façade break so soon.

“I just…” Thor took a deep breath. “I can’t get out of bed.”

He nodded. He may not know much about psychology but he knew a sign of depression when he saw it.

“Do you need me to do anything?”

He made a soft wine. “You don’t need to.”

“I want to.”

He stayed silent, just breathing shallowly.

“I can clean up the bottles.”

He just gave a grunt. He stood up and got a trash bag, going to clean up the empty bottles. He started with the living room and then got the rest in Thor’s room. He looked at him, seeing he hadn’t changed his position. He held back a sigh and left to toss the bag into the garbage.

He opened up the curtains in the living room. He looked out at the view, seeing the groggy sea. It was a pretty typical fishing village, nothing like how Thor described Asgard. Yet, this was still Asgard with the people there.

He turned away and looked back at Thor’s room. He wasn’t sure what he could do but he knew he couldn’t just leave him alone. He walked back to the bedroom. Thor had turned onto his back and the sheet was halfway down his body.

“Thor?”

He gave him a grunt in response.

“I’m going to open the curtains, okay?”

“Mhm.”

He walked to the curtains and pulled them open. He looked back at Thor, and saw how his eyes were squinting shut.

He took a deep breath and walked to him. “I’ll help you get up, okay?”

He gave a small groan but no signs of protest. He took his a mess and pulled him up. Thor’s hair was muzzled and his beard was somewhat wiry. Most of Thor’s body weight was resting on the headboard but it was a version of sitting up.

“You have anything to eat?”

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

He nodded. “Okay. Do you want me to go?”

He shook his head. “No.” He took a deep breath. “Can you please stay with me?” He met his eye as he said it. He nodded and when Thor shuffled to the side on the bed, he’d realised he was inviting for him to sit on the bed with him. With the look he was giving him, nothing in him could say no.

He crawled onto the bed and sat himself next to him, keeping his legs on top of the covers. There was no need to get… too intimate.

He wasn’t sure if they had a real chance to figure out what was between them after Sakaar. Sure they’d fought together before but it was so different that time. He couldn’t really put it in words but what he knew for sure was that he was developing feelings for him. They didn’t have a chance to figure out what it was between them, and in the back of his mind he had been so sure they’d win. Then maybe he’d do some big romantic gesture where he confessed his feelings and things would be happy and easy.

But no, they lost instead. Initially, he hadn’t been in the mindset to initiate anything. At first he wanted to wait until they’d fixed things. But at this point things weren’t going to be fixed. There was no chance.

He’d figured it was best to just be there for Thor in any way he needed him.

“Did I say I’d missed you before you arrived to New Asgard?” His voice was soft as he spoke. It kind of broke his heart.

“I… I don’t think so.”

“Oh… well I did,” Thor turned to look at him. “I really missed you.”

He felt his stomach go into knots. “I missed you too.”

He took a deep breath. “I haven’t felt like myself. Ever since I killed…” ’Thanos’ seemed to catch in his throat. He nodded, because he didn’t want to trigger Thor if it was that hard for him. “It’s felt like I cannot do much of anything. I can barely leave the house, it’s felt like beer was my only way to cope. That coupled with my father, mother, and Loki dying… it’s difficult.”

He nodded, taking his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. “It’s okay to feel what you’re feeling. It’s not healthy but you’ve gone through too much. Way more than you deserved.”

Thor looked at him with heavy eyelids. “You never talked about your own family.”

He went silent. His family was a topic he avoided. He went through enough years of therapy to decide it was best to accept it and move on with his life.

“It’s, uh, not my favourite topic.” He drew his knees to his chest and looked away.

He took a deep breath. He trusted Thor, and he knew what had happened to his family, maybe levelling on that would give him a certain kind of therapy he couldn’t get anywhere else.

“My dad… he killed my mom right in front of me.”

The room went silent and he could feel Thor watching him. “Bruce… I…”

“Yeah, not my favourite memory,” he mumbled. “I was raised by my aunt after that.”

“That’s… that’s horrific I had no idea.”

“My anger has to come from somewhere,” he joked. One of his few coping mechanisms.

Thor seemed to ignore that. “It must be hard for you…”

He shrugged. “I was 4, I’ve had over 40 years to process it.”

“That’s not a long time.”

“Maybe for a Norse god.” And maybe for him too now since Hulk seemed to have stunted his ageing, making him practically immortal. If a bullet didn’t do it, the fragility of mortality definitely wouldn’t.

He sighed. “My dad, he also experimented with gamma radiation. I think that’s really how I survived what brought Hulk, some pre-exisiting radiation from him.”

Thor squeezed his hand. It was then he realised they were still holding hands. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

He nodded solemnly and let his head rest on Thor’s shoulder. “Now I don’t want to get out of bed.”

“You can stay here as long as you need.”

“Okay.” He felt his entire body relax.

He didn’t even realise he’d fallen asleep.

* * *

The morning after Bruce woke up in Thor’s bed, it was empty.

When he walked into the living room he saw Thor was playing his video game again, Miek and Korg sitting with him. They’d seemed so distracted that they hadn’t heard him.

He’d walked back to his own cottage before anyone noticed he’d been there.

He was still surprised at himself for opening up to Thor. What had happened to his mom never made it beyond a therapists office. Not even Betty knew. Thor was different, he trusted him more than anything. Thor was good at pulling him out of dark places when needed.

He wanted to be that for Thor. He was in a dark pool of depression and PTSD. That had prompted him to see him every day. He’d made a habit of making sure he got out of bed. Thor was good at convincing him to stay afterwards. He was starting to realise he’d do almost anything to make Thor happy.

Thor was still drinking heavily. Bruce had done his best to decrease it, and according to Korg him being there had helped both his drinking and his mood. Bruce didn’t want to think about what he was like before he arrived.

During one of his usual visits, he ended up falling asleep on Thor’s couch. He’d been up for the most of the night after a night terror woke him up.

Night terrors weren’t necessarily common. They happened a lot more when he’d first ran to Brazil. They were mostly about Ross finding him and locking him somewhere underground, restraining him to a table.

Now they were just memories of the battle in Wakanda and watching everyone turn to literal dust. He always woke up feeling like cold water had been thrown down his back, not in any mood to go back to sleep.

He opened his eyes, realising he was in a bed. He knew for sure it wasn’t his own bed. He rubbed his eyes and realised he was in Thor’s bed. He looked to his side, realising the space was empty.

He got out of the bed and walked into the living room. He found Thor still playing his video game on the couch.

“Thor?”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled at him. His beard was coming out even more, and Bruce found himself liking the look. He didn’t look like the Thor he met when he was first drafted into the Avengers or even the one he’d grown to love on Sakaar. Something about him looked like a Thor post the decimation. He had to wonder if people saw him in the same way.

“You’re awake,” he smiled. “I carried you into my room, thought it would be more comfortable.”

He nodded and sat down next to him. It was night, most of the light coming from the TV. “Have you slept?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know if you would be comfortable with me sleeping next to you.”

“Oh, uh, I wouldn’t have minded.”

He shrugged and focussed back on the TV. “I have trouble sleeping sometimes anyway. It’s easier to have less sleep sometimes.”

“What do you mean by ‘trouble’?”

He noticed how his shoulders stiffened slightly. “Uh, I have bad dreams a lot. It started after Wakanda.”

His teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

“Me too.”

Thor met his eye and he the look he gave him felt like it was almost relief.

He hadn’t been sure how to explain PTSD to Thor, but it hit him that wasn’t what he’d needed. He needed comfort and for someone to be there for him. Just like Bruce needed someone.

Maybe they could be there for each other.

* * *

Bruce started sleeping at Thor’s. It wasn’t intentional. It was just that he’d stay at Thor’s longer and fall asleep before he could stop himself. He usually fell asleep curled up on the couch, and sometimes it was on Thor’s shoulder. More than once, he fell asleep to wake up in Thor’s bed with him sound asleep next to him. It took all his willpower to not curl up into his warmth.

It’d been about two months of him falling asleep at Thor’s and waking up in Thor’s bed. Some nights Thor would be sleeping on his stomach and his arm would be over his torso.

Nightmares were still something he’d sometime struggle with. They weren’t frequent, but they happened regularly enough. Usually they’d wake him up and Thor would still be fast asleep next to him. He’d calm himself down, turn to his side and stay in the same position until the sun came up.

When his eyes shot open in the middle of the night, his heart racing at the images of his nightmare faded from his mind.

He willed himself to calm down, taking deep breaths. He was ready to curl up and wait until the sun rose. Probably wake Thor up and put something together for breakfast.

“Bruce?”

He almost jumped out of his skin and turned on his side, seeing Thor was looking at him.

“Sorry,” he said. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” he said. “I was having trouble sleeping. Sometimes happens. What about you? You don’t seem okay.”

He swallowed. “Nightmare, I’m okay.”

He face softened. “You’re shaking.”

Was he? Maybe he was trembling a little but he didn’t think it was enough for Thor to notice.

“I’ll be okay.”

That was clearly not enough for him. Thor shuffled closer to him and his arms wrapped around him. He tensed in his hold but relaxed quickly.

“Is this okay?” Thor asked.

“Yeah,” he breathed out, allowing himself to nuzzle into his chest. It was far more than okay.

“This doesn’t happen often, does it?” Thor asked as he started to rub his back.

“No. I’ve had worse experiences. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay.”

They fell into a silence, and Thor was gently rocking him in his arms. He could practically live in his arms forever.

“Sometimes I have moments where I feel like I can’t breathe, where I… feel like I’m dying.”

He looked up to meet his eye. His face looked pale. It made him wonder if he’d ever talked about it before.

“Drinking… it helps. I know it’s not good for me but it makes me feel better.”

Bruce bit his lip and wrapped his arms around his stomach, burying his face in his neck.

“I don’t feel… great with how I look now.”

He squeezed him, swallowing the lump in his throat. His stomach was pressing into his own, and he pulled him closer, hoping to communicate that he not only wasn’t judging him for his weight gain, he liked it. He wasn’t sure if saying aloud was crossing a boundary they hadn’t broken but he really wanted him to know he did.

He felt a his hand in his hair. He relaxed as Thor continued to gently run his hands through his hair.

For the first time, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

* * *

Bruce had unofficially moved into Thor’s. Instead of only staying overnight and carried to Thor’s bed when he accidentally fell asleep, he started going to Thor’s bed to fall asleep on his own.

Brunn, Korg, and Miek had all noticed but they’d never asked about it. Bruce had decided to not think too much about it. He wasn’t familiar with what were standard social norms when it came to friendships on Asgard. That made him decide to not think too much about it.

Even regardless of that, he wasn’t sure where the line was when you spent every night cuddling with a friend as you fell asleep. Even without the layer of his unresolved feelings for him.

He wasn’t even sure if ‘unresolved feelings’ was the right way to put it. He’d had the suspicion he might have feelings for him after Sakaar. After spending the past couple of months with him, he knew for sure he was in love with him.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about that, and with how touchy Thor could be he was left in a state of confusion.

He’d been thinking about telling Thor. In the past when he’d crushed on his presumably straight guy friends he never did. He’d told female friends he’d liked them in the past but men was a different area altogether.

The difference this time was that he didn’t even know if Thor was straight. He knew for sure he liked women. That didn’t guarantee he liked men, and especially not him.

Thor himself had always been ridiculously attractive, he knew that when he met him. He still found him ridiculously attractive of course, and he became more and more attractive the more that he got to know him.

He’d decided it was best to stick with what they had. He felt like he could potentially ruin it if he told him how he felt. He had no one else left in his life. Friendship from Thor was enough from him.

“Do you want to try playing?” Thor asked, holding out the controller to him.

Bruce had been sitting mostly in silence, his knees drawn to his chest. He’d been half watching Thor playing the game – some multiplayer thing, he wasn’t sure – and he’d been enjoying it, mostly because he liked spending his time with Thor.

He shook his head, giving him a smile. “I’m terrible at these kind of games.”

“You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

He nodded, took a sip of his beer, and went back to his game.

He watched him as he played. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched him. With the down days he could have, he loved seeing him look genuinely happy.

He let his body fall onto Bruce side, curling his legs onto the couch. Thor seemed to be constantly warm. Almost like a radiator.

Thor rested his head on top of his and he continued to play the game until it was over.

“You want to go to bed?” Thor asked as the screen went to the consoles homepage.

“Yeah,” he yawned. He was pretty tired. He was ready to fall asleep in Thor’s arms.

We walked to the bedroom, stripping off his clothes to sleep in his boxers. He went to lay down on the bed, waiting for Thor to come in the room.

He came in a few minutes later. He didn’t immediately turn off the light like he’d expected. He looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

Thor had taken a liking to cardigans. He wasn’t sure if him starting to basically live in more comfortable clothes had come with his weight gain. He’d definitely gained more weight in the past three months he’d been in New Asgard.

He was still drinking a lot but Brunn had told him he used to be rare for him to be sober. Apparently after two weeks of being in New Asgard Thor had started to show some improvements. Maybe he wasn’t ever completely sober but Brunn had told him his usual state was so intoxicated he couldn’t even talk straight.

Thor stepped forward to the bed. Instead of going to his side under the covers, he went to his side and knelt to his level. He looked up at him, feeling his heart beat in his chest.

“I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for being here.”

He swallowed. “I only wanted to see you.”

“And you have no idea how much I really do appreciate it.”

He didn’t respond, he was too distracted by his mind practically screaming at how close Thor was to him.

He almost exploded when Thor took his cheek in his hand. His thumb was gently stroked his cheekbone. He stayed unmoving as Thor shuffled a little closer to him.

“Can I kiss you?”

His mouth gaped opened. He was so desperate to say yes but that seemed to stop the words from coming out. Instead, he nodded furiously.

Thor smiled him. A smile he hadn’t seen from him before, where it was soft and his entire expression softened.

Thor leaned down and pressed his lips to his. Bruce kissed him back, holding his head in his hands.

They kissed for a while, keeping it simple and chaste.

When he pulled away he looked at him with heavy eyelids. “I think I forgot to mention this, but I love you.”

He smiled. “You did. I love you too.”

He nuzzled into his neck, Bruce feeling him breathe in deeply. “Come into bed with me.”

Within a few seconds, Thor was in the bed and he hovered his face over his. They smiled at each other and Thor leaned down to kiss him. Bruce wrapped on arms around his neck while the other went to his stomach. There was a small amount of space between them, enough to touch Thor’s stomach. He felt him freeze against for a moment before relaxing.

Thor kissed with a certain amount of tenderness. The kind that made him feel like he was floating on a cloud.

He realised he could live like this forever.

* * *

Bruce wasn’t sure how exactly he’d been able to stay in Norway for so long. He wasn’t sure if it was Avenger’s privileges or because of Thor’s own status.

Either way, he hadn’t been kicked out of the country yet. It definitely helped Hulk incidents hadn’t happened. Hulk had still been pretty dormant, and maybe it also helped he hadn’t been in situations that required him to fight that week’s Being. That coupled with him just not wanting to come out at all.

His life had shifted completely now that he and Thor were together. He’d basically taken up permanent residence in New Asgard. All he had back in New York was his room and lab in Stark Tower. He’d spent years packing his life in a suitcase that he had nothing to go back to.

The Asgardians seemed to barely react to them being in a relationship. Korg had said he assumed they already were. He decided to take that as a good thing.

Thor was still drinking and every now and again, had his own nightmares and panic attacks. Bruce’s own still came and went.

They’d both found stability in one another. They didn’t need a quick fix, and maybe they’d never be completely better. They were both happy to simply be there for each other. Whether that be calming the other down from panic attacks or holding each other after being woken up from a nightmare.

They understood each other in that weird way. Not only the heaviness from being an Avenger, the way they’d both lose their parents in tragic ways. He was thankful to him for that.

Bruce had really realised the life he’d had before the decimation was over. His new one was in New Asgard with Thor. At first he thought pieces of his old life was still intact, that was until he’d found out Betty was a victim. That was when he knew things were never going to be the same.

He never saw himself going back to New York. At that point, New Asgard was his home.

* * *

After two years of being together, Thor did something Bruce wasn’t sure if he’d expected it or not.

After spending the day with Brunn, he walked into his and Thor’s home.

Thor had started drinking a little less. He was no longer met with empty beer bottles stacked on the coffee table. It was still a coping mechanism for him and Bruce didn’t feel right about taking away from him, other than making sure he wasn’t drinking himself to death.

That day, there weren’t any bottles. The house looked like how he’d left it.

He looked around the house and frowned. He was about to call his name until Thor stepped out from their bedroom. He noticed how his beard was trimmed and his hair was brushed, put into a ponytail. He’d put on a casual-nice sort of attire. A button up shirt that fit him well and a pair of jeans.

He stared at him, and kept his eyes on him as he stepped forward to him. Bruce didn’t miss he was holding something in his hand too.

Thor took his hand and pressed his lips to his knuckle. “Hello, love.”

“Hi.”

He let got of his hands and cupped his face in his hand, pushing his curls out of his face. He leaned down and kissed him. Even though it was only a peck it still made his toes curl.

He let Thor take his hand and pull him into the living room. He hadn’t realised there had been candles lit on the coffee table.

“Bruce,” Thor began, still holding onto his hand. “I love you more than anything. You being in New Asgard has made my life better, more than you could ever know. I was in a dark place and when I saw you arrive a mere two years ago, I felt like there was still some hope in the world. You brought a certain light in my life. I would say ever since we connected on Sakaar I had fallen in love with you. I wish I had realised it sooner so I could’ve shown my love for you soon. You’ve changed my life in so many ways, and I don’t think I will ever find someone like you again.”

He went down on his knee and revealed the ring box. “I don’t fully understand Midgardian betrothal customs, however I thought you would appreciate my attempt at emulating one.” He opened the ring box to reveal a silver hand. “Will you marry me, my love?”

He hadn’t realised he’d started crying. He smiled down at Thor and knelt down and kissed him. “Yes. A million time yes.”

He was really happy he’d decided to come to New Asgard.

* * *

The Prince Consort role wasn’t that different than being a King’s live-in boyfriend. Aside from the Asgardians view of him, he’d realised that there wasn’t much for a Prince Consort to do when the kingdom was a small part of fishing village.

Their wedding wasn’t the most extravagant thing. At least not how you’d think a typical royal wedding would be. It was limited to the Asgardians and the small family Bruce still had. His cousin Jen went on about how the hell he was the one who ended up with a literal god.

They hadn’t invited the other Avengers. It’d been too long and at that point it didn’t feel right to try and contact them for any reason. Bruce’s best guess was that they’d found out through the media when they’d caught wind of it.

He lived his life to the best he could. He spent most of his time with Thor, and when he wasn’t he met up with Brunn. She usually had stories on the latest man or woman she’d gone on a date with, which provided a sense of normalcy.

One day when he was home with Thor while he played a video game with Miek and Korg, Bruce was surprised to see the badger-raccoon-whatever-he-was that Thor had shown up to Wakanda with walk into their home.

“Come on lovebirds, we need you to help save the world.”


End file.
